Legendary Entertainment, the studio involved in the recent Dune movie and the new run of Godzilla movies over the years, is ending its partnership with Warner Bros. Discovery, according to Variety. It will partner up with Sony, which will market and distribute Legendary movies in the future.
However, there are a few exceptions to this rule; for instance, Warner Bros. Discovery will still be involved with the upcoming sequel to Dune, which is supposed to be out in November next year. Also, Legendary has hopped around Hollywood before, and it did end its deal with Warner Bros. in 2014 to sign a five-year deal with Universal, only to come back.
But why is Legendary leaving Warner Bros.?
During the pandemic, Warner Bros. decided to release movies like Dune and Godzilla vs Kong in theatres and on HBO Max simultaneously. This decision angered Legendary enough for it to threaten legal action. Although the companies were able to sort things out, we know that Legendary was still steamed, especially after reading its joint statement with Sony Pictures, which highlights how the two companies are aligned in their “ongoing commitment to theatrical distribution as a driver for other ‘downstream’ windows and the theatrical window’s long-term value for films.”
In other words, Warner Bros. Created Legendary movies on HBO Max while they were out in theatres, and Legendary hasn’t forgiven them for it. Dune and Godzilla vs Kong proved to be box office hits even with the simultaneous HBO Max releases.
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